Offseason In Review: Milwaukee Brewers

The Brewers won't replace Prince Fielder's offense in 2012, but they have newcomer Aramis Ramirez at third base and — despite a months-long scare — a full season of defending National League MVP Ryan Braun.

As expected, Prince Fielder signed elsewhere, but beyond that the Brewers' winter was far from routine. Most notably, Ryan Braun tested positive for a banned substance before contesting the 50-game suspension and winning the appeal.

It marked the second consecutive intrigue-filled offseason for Brewers fans. They watched a year ago as GM Doug Melvin traded for Zack Greinke and Shaun Marcum, but the club relied primarily on free agency this winter.

Though his destination of choice proved to be a surprise, Fielder's free agent departure had seemed inevitable for months, if not years. Even after setting an attendance record and making it to the NLCS, a $200MM commitment would not have made sense for the mid-market Brewers. They've steadily raised payroll under owner Mark Attanasio, but other, more affordable options existed for Melvin and the rest of the Brewers' front office.

They turned to the free agent market to improve the left side of their infield, signing Aramis Ramirez for three years and $36MM and agreeing to terms with Alex Gonzalez on a one-year, $4.25MM deal. The duo offers power, but at 33 and 35, respectively, Ramirez and Gonzalez may soon start to decline. Gonzalez remains an excellent defender, so he should help make up for Ramirez's less-than-stellar glovework. Meanwhile, the Brewers expect Ramirez to replace some of Fielder's offensive production.

“We needed some power back in our lineup missing Fielder even though we’re not going to get it all back,” assistant GM Gord Ash told MLBTR.

Instead of pursuing a free agent first baseman, the Brewers have handed the starting job to 26-year-old Mat Gamel. They cleared space for him by sending Casey McGehee to the Pirates for reliever Jose Veras and seemingly had little interest in Derrek Lee, Carlos Pena, Casey Kotchman and other free agent first basemen. Despite Gamel's struggles with the Brewers, he has had limited opportunity at the Major League level and his minor league stats are excellent. Various models project Gamel to have an on-base percentage of .330 or so along with a slugging percentage of .440 or so in 2012 — an outcome the Brewers would surely welcome. Plus, the Brewers may be better off defensively with Gamel at Fielder's old spot.

In a surprising development, reliever Francisco Rodriguez accepted the Brewers' offer of arbitration. His salary diminished via the arbitration system, but the Brewers probably weren't expecting to spend $8MM on the right-hander in 2012. Spending that kind of money on a setup man seems excessive for the Brewers, and finding a way to anticipate the reliever's decision and withold the offer of arbitration may have been preferable.

With Rodriguez back for another year and Veras now in the bullpen mix, manager Ron Roenicke should have enough quality right-handed relievers in 2012. The Brewers will be short on left-handed relief unless Zach Braddock pitches better or Manny Parra returns to health. They may lock John Axford up long-term, and doing so could create savings for the closer's arbitration years.

The Brewers' top five starters accounted for all but seven of the team's starts a year ago, and none of the five were eligible for free agency, so Melvin essentially left the rotation alone this offseason. The club showed interest in deepening its starting staff with minor league deals, but it's difficult to convince free agent starters to join a rotation with five established pitchers.

“They tend to gravitate to places where there are a few more openings,” Ash said. “They say ‘we don’t see the same opportunity here that we see somewhere else’ and they sign with another team.”

Shoulder issues have sidelined Marcum temporarily and if he's out for longer than expected swingman Marco Estrada will provide rotation depth. Top prospect Wily Peralta has the potential to start in the Major Leagues at some point relatively soon, though he may not presently be ready.

The Brewers signed Japanese outfielder Norichika Aoki to a modest two-year deal, and added Jay Gibbons and Corey Patterson just in case. Corey Hart may miss Opening Day, so the depth may prove useful even though Braun is eligible to play the entire season.

The Brewers lost one of the game's top power hitters this offseason, but their window for contention didn't collapse when Prince Fielder left. By strengthening the left side of the infield and adding complementary pieces up and down the roster, Melvin increased the chances that the Brewers will return to the postseason in 2012.

Comments

His suspension? What suspension? He was never actually suspended and you can’t lift something that never happened. Had not it been leaked to ESPN, we’d have never known anything about a failed test. MLB doesn’t suspend players until after they’ve had a hearing and it’s adjudicated. It was adjudicated in his favor and hence no suspension His legal team is gathering the evidence to clear his name, Until then he’ll have to live with the catcalls.

His teammates say there is much more to his story than has been made public. It hasn’t been made public in my opinion because it’s not over in the courts. Braun’s fight to clear his name hasn’t ended.

Oh, but I have. Looking forward to 2012 baseball season. I’ll see Braun in AZ in May, and I’ll feel no need to treat him any differently than I did before all this. It’s a lot of the rest of you who won’t let this go.

We don’t know why he was cleared–neither you or I were in that room listening to the evidence. However, there was a professional arbitrator in the room who did hear the evidence–one that on 12 previous occasions had ruled that a player suspension for PEDs was in order–and this time he felt Braun’s team made a strong enough case to avoid one. Braun won his case within the rules that were collectively bargained by MLB and the player’s union. Again, that’s good enough for me.

As for Braun being a cheat, he has passed 25 previous drug tests in his baseball career, including four during the 2011 season. That’s also good enough for me.

it’s good enough for pretty much everyone…to agree he shouldn’t be suspended, since the rules weren’t strictly followed

it’s not good enough for everyone to agree he never used PEDs, which is what you’re doing

you are trying to use an abritrator’s conclusions about the former to imply that that the latter has been decided. that isn’t appropriate

braun still tested positive for synthetic testosterone and it is still borderline insane to believe that it either spontaneously created itself in his sample or was placed there by means of a vast conspiracy involving alien technology. and if it wasn’t one of those two things, then braun used PEDs

Any one of you out there that believes that your favorite player hasn’t attempted to gain a competitive edge by using a substance, banned or not – testable or not, needs a wake up call. This is a part of competition, and has been for as long as competition has been around. I would argue that Braun successfully beating a failed test almost makes him cleaner than the Pujols-es of the world. Take one look at the Queen, and tell me he hasn’t juiced. A-Rod has. Bonds did. Those are the top three bats of the last decade plus… For a fan to get all high and mighty, which is the trip most of you seem to be on, makes no sense to me.

Casey McGehee, Yuniesky Betancourt, and Prince Fielder produced a combined total of 6.3 WAR last season. Since the rest of the team is substantially the same, the new trio of Ramirez, Gonzalez, and Gamel need only beat that amount. The Prince-less 2012 Brewers have a really good chance to be better (in WAR, at least) than last year’s team.